Dog, Stag and Rat
by bekah.jane
Summary: Three quarters of the Marauders are ready to make the change into Animagi, the fourth member is not so sure. One-shot. Slight mature themes.


Though no words were spoken aloud, the three boys' expressions practically screamed 'You go first'.

Remus stood by the door, watching anxiously. Every couple of seconds he would make a small noise, as if to protest, but the looks he recieved made him bite his tongue. He had been quivering with fear ever since that morning when James had rushed to breakfast, shirt unevenly buttoned and glasses askew, claiming he'd figured it out. Now Remus's three best friends stood expectantly in the abandoned classroom, ready to make the intense change into Animagi, all for him. He didn't even want to think about what could go wrong, all he knew was that it'd be all his fault.

Sirius cleared his throat. He wasn't one to suffer hostile silences, nor to shy away from a challenge.

"If you two shirt lifters are done pissing your pants, could we maybe get a move on?" he snapped characteristically, although his voice betrayed his twinges of nervousness.

"Shirt lifters?" James scoffed, "You're one to talk. I saw you with Stevens the other night! That was shirt lifting if I ever saw it."

"I've said it once, I'll say it a millions times," Sirius seethed, "We were drunk, it was a dare, and I did it to get to his girlfriend!"

"Threesome, Sirius? Never thought you'd be up for sharing." James teased.

Peter snorted, "It's Sirius, he's up for anything that breaths."

"It was more a matter of upstaging, rather than sharing. I dunno about mine, but she definitely couldn't remember his name by the time I was done with her, no three ways about it." he finished with an impressive wink.

The group laughed easily, tension subsided, and Sirius pulled out his wand. Still chuckling at his joke, he reached for the parchment of instructions they'd been compiling for the past three years.

"I suppose I'll go first," he commented.

"What d'you reckon you'll be?" Peter asked excitedly. It was a fond conversation they'd had many times before, but it held a sense of solemn anticipation now.

"A stallion, obviously," Sirius smirked, leaning casually back, hips pushed forward, prompting another collected laugh.

Remus stepped forward, placing a hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"I-"

"Remus, for the love of all that is holy, will you stop?" Sirius exploded, turning to face his friend, "You're not gonna talk us out of this, especially not after all this time!"

Remus retracting his hand as if he'd been stung. His heart was beating painfully hard so that all he could manage in reply was a stiff nod. Sirius did a slight double take before instantly regretting his words.

"Rem, you're shaking..." he murmured. It was true; the young werewolf's hands quivered. He clenched them together in an attempt to still them.

James and Peter stepped forward now, the latter placing his arm around Remus comfortingly.

"We're gonna be fine, Rem." James murmured, "We've done our homework, for once, we're not going into this completely uninformed. I'm sure this is right."

Remus nodded again, but his face and shaking relaxed.

"We all signed up for this of our own will, you barely had anything to do with it," Peter added, taking his arm away and stepping back to sit on an old desk.

"You don't have to be alone anymore." Sirius told him quietly.

Still unable to speak, Remus nodded for the third time and returned to his guard duty at the door, willing himself not to cry. How he ever got so lucky to have friends like these, he'd never know.

"And besides," James piqued in with a teasing voice, "If anything does go wrong, it's only Sirius."

Sirius sent a rude hand gesture James's way before holding his wand at the ready.

"Well, this is it..." he took in a deep breath, "Nice knowing you all."

Remus let out a splutter.

"Joking, joking!" Sirius added hastily.

The group was perfectly silent, breath caught in anticipation. Feeling a little foolish, Sirius waved his wand, performing a string of spells that they'd gathered over the years. With each spell, Sirius's body seemed to glow slightly but did not change. Once he'd finished, he glanced at the intructional sheet once more, rolling his eyes.

"The underlined one next to the crude doodle of the giant schlong?" he asked.

"Self portrait." James corrected with a snicker and then nodded, hazel eyes wide with excitement.

Sirius took a deep breath, closing his eyes, then muttered, "Mutatiomalis."

There was a tense second of silence, and then Sirius let out a surprised yelp which suddenly became a surprised bark.

In place of Sirius Black, now stood a very confused looking, very nicely groomed black dog. His head was tilted comically to the side, yellow eyes wide. Remus let out a relieved laugh and grins cracked onto James and Peter's faces.

"A dog, Sirius!" James chuckled, "Suits you!"

Sirius the dog finally recovered from the shock of sprouting fur and barked twice. He shifted his weight on all four paws and twitched his ears a little.

"Congratulations, mate, you're a certified Animagus!" Peter said in awe.

"Certified, but not registered," James reminded them slyly.

Remus pressed his lips together to fight back his reprimands. On top of this being reckless and highly dangerous, it was also incredibly illegal. But James, Sirius and Peter had insisted on making the change as soon as possible, unwilling to wait until they were of the age to be permitted by the Ministry.

Sirius was exploring his new body. He took an excited bound around the classroom before returning to his friends. He sat heavily on his haunches and turned his head to get a full look at himself. He was promptly thwacked in the face by his own tail.

Tears of laughter formed in James's eyes at the sight of Sirius with his tail in his mouth, having reflexively snapped at it when it hit him. He collected the instructions from the floor.

"Me next, sorry Pete," he smirked at his protesting friend.

He, like Sirius, performed the first line of spells. He took a moment for theatrics, making sure all eyes were on him and then, chin in the air, he cast the final enchantment.

Rather than shrinking down, a large something intruded the space where James once stood. Remus, Peter and the dog all stared at the thing, desperately trying to figure out what it was. Remus felt a stab of fear as he wondered if something had gone wrong, but then James stretched his head up.

A wide face with large, dark eyes and a long, rounded snout appeared, proudly adorned with long, reaching antlers. The stag lifted it's front leg and stomped it down, hoof clicking on the stone floor. Remus couldn't help himself as he started to clap. Peter joined in, jaw open in awe. Sirius wagged his tail wildly, loping over to weave between the stag's long legs.

"Bet those'll pack a punch." Pete commented, gesturing towards the impressive antler rack on James's head.

Remus gulped. He'd definitely aquire some nasty bruises, he was sure. But he was happy; the stag and the dog would definitely be sufficient to keep him in line when he transformed.

James and Sirius were still fooling around. The dog was attempting to unbalance the stag by darting between his legs. Stumbling slightly, James threw his head down to butt the dog but accidently clipped an antler on the desk beside him. With a shocked bleat, he tripped sideways, crashing towards the door. In the chaos, Remus's startled mind didn't think to move, so he was promptly and none too gently pinned to the wall by a mass of furious fur and muscle. Groaning, the stag regained his balance and stomped over to where Sirius had hidden, curled in an unobtrusive ball behind Peter's feet. Remus rubbed his aching ribs gingerly.

"Guys, stop it!" he pleaded.

Sirius whined apologetically, tongue lolling out as he tried to smile at James. The stag sighed heavily and turned away to take his place back where he'd started. He looked expectantly towards Peter. Sirius crawled out from his hiding place under the desk and went to sit by Remus to watch.

Peter performed the preparation spells. When it came to the last one, he bit his lip nervously.

"Good luck, Pete." Remus whispered tensely.

It was no secret that Peter was the least accomplished of the group. If anything were to go wrong, it'd be with him.

"Thanks..." Peter murmured, "Okay... Mutatiomalis!"

Sirius whimpered loudly. Remus's blood went cold.

"Peter?" he called shakily.

The stag shifted anxiously, staring determinedly at the spot where Peter should be.

"Oh god..." Remus raked his hands through his hair, "What have I done?"

A high pitched sound answered him. Sirius yelped in surprise, standing and shaking his shiny fur. The sound continued at a more frantic volume until Remus understood.

"Sirius, stop!" he urged, dropping to his knees before the dog.

Sirius went rigid as he felt the small something on his back climb up his neck. James moved in for a closer look and Remus frowned nervously. Suddenly, a small grey ball popped up onto Sirius's head. James and Remus both started and Sirius moved to try and throw the thing off again. Luckily, Remus reached out and snatched the grey furry thing before Sirius started to shake. Laughing with relief, Remus held out the rat for the others to see. Sirius and James studied it curiously as it let out a delighted squeak. The stag and the dog shared one look before sharing in a series of loud noises that could only be assumed to be laughter. The rat's nose scrunched, disgruntled, and it turned to Remus for support.

"I think it's perfect, Pete," Remus grinned proudly, "Let's see if they laugh when they realise you're the only one small enough to hit the knot on the Willow."

James and Sirius's laughter bitterly subsided. Remus set the rat down and straightened up to observe his friends. He could hardly contain the pride he felt as he looked at them. Sirius's playful but protective nature was only enhanced in his new dog form. Armed with a rack of antlers and a broad, tough form, James now looked as proud and powerful as he acted. And Peter's form really was perfect. The boy had always been the most quiet, least pronounced member of the group, but he was always resourceful when it counted.

"I'm so proud of you guys," Remus said. Though the words were small, they held all the emotion that he couldn't verbalize and each of his friends appreciated it. He stepped forward, placing an arm around the broad neck of the stag.

"So." he said, "How do you change back?"

There was a long silence. The black dog let out a quiet whimper.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't worry, they worked it out eventually! Hehe...<strong>

**Not gonna lie, this probably isn't the best I could do. I wrote it months ago and didn't think I'd upload it, but I came back to it today and liked the interaction between the boys, so I decided to take my chances. I dunno, maybe I'm just being overly critical. Anyway, if you liked this, I'd love it if you checked out my other little Marauder one shots /shameless self plug **

**Well, enjoy!**


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